The 2023 Formula 1 World Championship calendar has added a new circuit: Las Vegas. This is the third race in the United States and it was a real novelty also for the driving conditions. And so George Russellaboard a INEOS Grenadierthe circuit said.
George Russel on an INEOS Grenadier in Las Vegas
The Las Vegas GP was the penultimate event of the 2023 calendar, held between Friday 17 and Sunday 11 November, a week before the final race of the world championship in Abu Dhabi. An unusual race, which saw the debut of the circuit that runs along the city’s famous strip in a night race, the first on American soil.
The introduction of the Las Vegas GP on the calendar was a real novelty, so much so that George Russell wanted to explain the reasons on board an INEOS Grenadier off-road vehicle. Russell is a driver for the Mercedes AMG-Petronas team together with Lewis Hamilton, a team of which INEOS is an official partner and one-third shareholder together with Mercedes-Benz Group and Toto Wolff.
But what did George Russell say on the Las Vegas circuit?
“The fact that it is a street circuit race and a night race is certainly an exciting experience. This time of year it is very cold and cars will slide. We are competing at the highest level of the sport and if you make a mistake you are penalised. This is the meaning of everything.
A city that’s all about risk and reward, there’s definitely a similarity to racing – we’re always pushing the limits and I think a lot of people can say the same when they’re in Las Vegas.
Driving a car like this over terrain like this is a real escape, because when you’re out here you have to be completely focused, going through trees, up and down, through drifts. It’s a form of meditation because you don’t think about anything else.
When you are off-road you are decidedly less tied to the stopwatch and more to calculation, you are not constantly at the limit and you can set your own pace. This contrast with my everyday life is something I really like.”
INEOS Grenadier: the British off-roader
INEOS was born as a British chemical company that with the Grenadier has ventured into the world of four wheels. The result is an off-road vehicle suitable for all types of terrain. For its creation the company joined forces with BMW for the engines, ZF for the transmission, Carraro for the axles, Bridgestone for the custom-made tires and Magna Steyr for the chassis and suspension.
L’INEOS Grenadier It is available in two variants – Utility or Station Wagon – and with two engines: 6-cylinder turbo petrol with 285 HP and 450 Nm or 6-cylinder turbodiesel with 249 HP and 550 Nm of torque.
At the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed, Ineos also presented a prototype of Grenadier powered by hydrogen, presumably with the same powertrain as the BMW iX5 Hydrogen, but nothing has been confirmed yet.
The price ofINEOS Grenadier also driven by George Russell starts from 63,190 euros, excluding IPT and MSS.